Monthly Archives: August 2012

Tracing the root causes of Sudan’s problems

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill Once again, and alas with Washington support, we are seeing Sudan in a very dangerous crisis situation. Washington is seemingly only thinking of who will control the oil, neglecting the agriculturists and animal industry and worse still the fact that the Sudan has within its vastness mini nations. In fact Washington sees only Christians and Muslims whereas there are  597 tribes that speak over 400 different languages and dialects split into two major Ethnic groups: Arabs of the largely Muslim Northern Sudan versus the largely Christian and animist Nilote Southern Sudan. These two groups consist of hundreds of smaller ethnic and tribal divisions, and in the latter case, … Continue reading →

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Few options to end fighting in Syria

Posted on August 27, 2012 by

By Andre deNesnera In statements at home and abroad, the Obama administration has made its policies toward the Syrian government clear: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go. “Our goal is to hasten the end of the bloodshed and the Assad regime,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a recent trip to Turkey. “That is our strategic goal.” But analysts say the U.S. is nowhere near achieving that goal. The U.S. rhetoric has done little to help rebel forces who have been fighting Syrian government troops for nearly 18 months, and there is no sign that either side will put down their weapons.  Analysts say at this stage, no one … Continue reading →

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Why broke Ghanaian MPs are haunted by their own promises

Posted on August 25, 2012 by

By Nana Boakye-Yiadom in Accra, Ghana The only time Ghanaian Members of Parliament (MPs) agree on anything is when they want salary increments or car loans and other things they claim enhance their jobs. And it does not matter which party is in power, the minority and majority sides will agree on what parliamentarians term ‘improvement in conditions of service’. On 15th August, 2012 there was uproar in the Ghanaian Parliament over salary and emolument issues and the parliamentarians threatened to boycott proceedings. The MPs were outraged by the delay in the payment of their arrears which was put on hold by the late President John Evans Atta Mills. This … Continue reading →

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Black groups challenge the International Criminal Court

Posted on August 25, 2012 by

By Robert Asketill On June 18 this year,  the President of the Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) of Barbados, David Comissiong, threw down the gauntlet to the International Criminal Court (ICC), when he and a group of Pan-African activists lodged a petition at the ICC’s headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, demanding that the political and military leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Canada, and Italy, be investigated and prosecuted for the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes against the nations and people of Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti and against the African-American population of the USA. Comissiong was among a 27- strong international delegation that congregated in New York … Continue reading →

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State of roads in Karamoja hindering progress in area

Posted on August 19, 2012 by

By Steven Ariong Traders and their goods truck stranded on the Moroto Road. (Photo by Steven Ariong) Despite the huge funding that the Uganda government has continued to earmark for repairs and maintenance of roads in the region, the deplorable state of roads in Karamoja casts a big shadow on how the monies are being utilized. In a research conducted by The London Evening Post, we found that the prices of food in Moroto town have gone up. Before rains returned  two month ago, a kilogram of sugar was sold at Uganda Shillings (UgShs) 5,000 (approx. £1.28) but now it has raised to UgShs 6, 000 (approx. £1.53), posho (maize … Continue reading →

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How Dictators Triumph With a Little Help From Their Friends

Posted on August 17, 2012 by

By Thor Halvorssen and Tutu Alicante Francisco Macias Nguema may not be as notorious as Kim Jong-Il or Joseph Stalin, but the people of Equatorial Guinea know him to be just as devastating. The dictator terrorized the country for 11 years, looting and pillaging with wanton bloodlust. Nobody knows the exact body count, but he killed or expelled more than one third of the country’s population. Teodoro Obiang Nguema was Macias’s nephew and trusted henchman, running the regime’s notorious “Black Beach” prison-torture complex and leading the National Guard. Their joint handiwork was such that the country became known as the “Auschwitz of Africa.” Proportionally, the two killed more people than the Nazis did … Continue reading →

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